Last Holiday

Terminal cancer turns a shy follower into a confident live-in-the-moment leader in director Wayne Wang’s latest romp. Queen Latifah stars as a soft-spoken department-store clerk. She dreams of traveling, becoming a gourmet chef and landing a hunky co-worker (LL Cool J). But when she’s diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, she refuses to have life pass her by any longer. With more defiance, Queen quits her dead-end job and blows her life savings on spa treatments and snowboarding lessons in a European winter wonderland, while teaching others to appreciate life as well. Even though it’s predictable from start to finish and preaches a rehashed feel-good message, Queen Latifah’s captivating on-screen presence nonetheless reminds us that life is too short and too precious.